Storage rack



Oct. 11, 1966 J. c. KIMPTON 3,278,043

STORAGE RACK Filed Feb. 16, 1965 United States Patent 3,278,043 STORAGERACK John C. Kimpton, Livonia, Mich., assignor to Palmer- Shile Company,Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Feb. 16, 1965, Ser. No.432,990 2 Claims. (Cl. 211-148) This invention relates to industrialstorage racks, and more particularly to racks of this type having spacedposts with cross rails detachably mounted thereon.

It is an object of the invention to provide a collapsible storage rackof this nature which will not be subject to damage by fork lift truckswhich are used to load and unload merchandise.

It is a further object to provide a collapsible storage rack of thischaracter which incorporates a wedging action between the cross railsand posts.

It is another object to provide an improved storage rack having thesecharacteristics which is economical to fabricate and durable in nature.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the subsequent description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a collapsible storage rackincorporating the construction of this invention, and

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a portion of apost and rail member, showing the construction of the connecting means.

Briefly, the illustrated embodiment of the invention is adapted to beused with a collapsible storage rack of the general type disclosed inPatent No. 3,044,633, dated July 17, 1962. That is, the rack comprises aplurality of spaced end members connected by cross rails. Each endmember includes a front and a rear post which are rigidlyinterconnected, and front and rear cross rails extend between adjacentfront and rear posts. Each rail has a connecting member secured at itsopposite ends, the connecting members each having downwardly facingteeth which fit into upwardly open slots formed in the post web. Theconnecting member has -a generally L-shaped cross section, and thecoaction of the teeth with those portions of the post Web adjacent theslots will create a wedging action of the connecting member against thefacing post flange, securely holding the cross rail in position.

Conventionally, the main portion of the post web is flat and the slotsare created by pressing outwardly vertically spaced strip portions ofthe web, the upper and lower edges of these strip portions being shearedfrom the main web portions.

It has been found that during loading and unloading of the racks, forklift trucks may hit these outwardly pressed strip-s, bending theminwardly and thus partially closing the slots which the teeth of theconnecting members must enter.

According to the present invention, the post has an initially flat webbut vertically spaced portions of this web are pressed inwardly insteadof outwardly, these inwardly pressed portions having inclined connectingportions with the outer flat web portions. The teeth on the connectingmember are likewise inclined inwardly, and will therefore be capable ofentering the slots created by the inwardly pressed portions. Since noportion of the web projects outwardly from its main surface, the dangerof damage from a fork lift truck in a manner described above, will begreatly diminished if not eliminated.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a knockdown storage rack isgenerally indicated at 11 in FIG- URE 1 and comprises spaced end membersgenerally indicated at 12, and front and rear cross rails generallyindicated at 13 and 14 respectively. Each end member 12 comprises afront post 15 and a rear post 16 connected by cross braces 17 and 18 toform a rigid unit. Posts 15 and 16 have a plurality of vertically spacedrecesses 19 for receiving connecting members generally indicated at 21which are secured to the opposite ends of each cross rail 13 and 14. Endmembers 21 are removably mountable in recesses 19 at varying heights,depending upon the type of goods to be stored on the storage rack, witheach pair of front and rear rails 13 and 14 being at equal heights.

Each connecting member 21 is of generally L-shaped cross section, and issubstantially longer than the height of rail member 13. One side 22 ofconnecting member 21 is secured at its midportion to the end of railmember by welding or similar means. Portion 23 of connecting member 21extends at right angles to portion 22. A series of three teeth 24, 25and 26 are formed on connecting member portion 23. These teeth areformed by recesses 27 and 28 which extend inwardly from the outer edgeof portion 23, and a recess 29 which extends upwardly from the loweredge of portion 23. Each of these recesses is so formed as to createdownwardly extending teeth 24, 25 and 26, with a substantial spacebetween the lower ends of teeth 24 and 25 and the upper ends of teeth 25and 26 respectively. The edges 31 of teeth 24, 25 and 26 which facerecesses 27, 28 and 29, respectively, are inclined downwardly andoutwardly with respect to portion 23. The three teeth are also bentinwardly from the plane of portion 23 by an angle of perhaps 20.

Each post 12 comprises a pair of parallel flanges 32 and 33, connectedby a web generally indicated at 34, with inturned flanges 35 and 36extending toward each other from flanges 32 and 33 respectively.

The central portion of web 34 comprises alternate sections 37 and 38 invertical relation. Sections 38 are flat and contiguous with flat sideportions 39 and 41 of web 34, which extend along its entire length. Thewidth of portions 39 and 41 is about the same as the width of portion 23of connecting member 21. The height of sections 38 is somewhat less thanthe spacing between the lower ends of teeth 24 and 25 and the upper endsof teeth 25 and 26 respectively. Sections 37 are intended inwardly fromsections 38. More particularly, each section 37 has a central portionparallel to section 38 but spaced inwardly therefrom, and inclinedportions 42 and 43 which connect portion 37 with portions 39 and 41 ofthe web. The angle of inclination of portions 42 and 43 is the same asthe angle at which teeth 24, 25 and 26 are inclined.

It will be seen that slots or recesses 19 are formed between eachsection 38 and the section 37 above and below it. In order to adequatelyform these recesses, narrow strips of metal between portions 37 and 38may be removed during the stamping process.

In operation, connecting member 21 will be placed against post 13 or 14in such manner as to permit teeth 24, 25 and 26 to enter downwardly intorecesses 19. As the teeth enter the recesses, their edges 31 will engagethe upper edges of sections 38, thereby creating a wedging action whichwill draw sections 22 of connecting members 21 against the facingflanges of post 12 or 13.

It will be noted that since posts 12 and 13 have no projecting portions,sections 38 thereof being flat and sections 37 indented, the danger ofdamage to the posts which might prevent proper insertion or removal ofthe connecting member teeth will be largely eliminated. As pointed outabove, this problem in the past has been created by the impact of forklift trucks which are loading or unloading merchandise on the racks.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the inventiondisclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, itwill be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification,variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fairmeaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a knock-down storage rack, a plurality of horizontally spaced endmembers, each end member com prising a rigidly connected front post andrear post, cross rails extending between pairs of front and rear posts,each post comprising a web and a flange at right angles to each other,said web being flat with vertically spaced sections thereof indentedinwardly, and a connecting member secured to each end of each crossrail, said connecting member comprising a first section engageable withthe flange of said post and a second section extending at right anglesto said first section, said second section having downwardly extendingteeth with recesses formed between said teeth, said teeth being inclinedinwardly, said post having upwardly open recesses formed between thealternate fiat and indented sections of the post web into which saidteeth are inserted.

2. In a knock-down storage rack construction, a post comprising a pairof parallel flat flanges connected by a web at right angles thereto,said web being flat except for vertically spaced sections which areindented inwardly, each of said vertically spaced sections having acentral portion parallel to the flat web portions and inclined portionsconnecting said central portion with the main flat portion of said web,a cross rail having a connecting member at one end thereof, saidconnecting member having a first fiat section engagcable with one ofsaid flanges, and a second section having a shape complementary to theadjacent flat side section of the post web and the inclined portionscontiguous therewith, downwardly extending teeth on said secondconnecting member section, and upwardly open recesses formed between theindented post web sections and the flat sections between them, saidteeth being insertable in said recesses, the spaces between said teethbeing greater than the width of the fiat web sections, whereby saidteeth may enter said recesses.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,893,567 7/1959Steele 211176 3,044,633 7/1962 Baker 211-176 3,151,745 10/1964 Reilly2l1148 3,194,408 7/1965 Kimpton 211-177 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, PrimaryExaminer.

W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner.

2. IN A KNOCK-DOWN STORAGE RACK CONSTRUCTION, A POST COMPRISING A PAIROF PARALLEL FLAT FLANGES CONNECTED BY A WEB AT RIGHT ANGLES THERETO,SAID WEB BEING FLAT EXCEPT FOR VERTICALLY SPACED SECTIONS WHICH AREINDENTED INWARDLY, EACH OF SAID VERTICALLY SPACED SECTIONS HAVING ACENTRAL PORTION PARALLEL TO THE FLAT WEB PORTIONS AND INCLINED PORTIONSCONNECTING SAID CENTRAL PORTION WITH THE MAIN FLAT PORTION OF SAID WEB,A CROSS RAIL HAVING A CONNECTING MEMBER AT ONE END THEREOF, SAIDCONNECTING MEMBER HAVING A FIRST FLAT SECTION ENGAGEABLE WITH ONE OFSAID FLANGES, AND A SECOND SECTION HAVING A SHAPE COMPLEMENTTARY TO THEADJACENT FLAT SIDE SECTION OF THE POST WEB AND THE INCLINED PORTIONSCONTIGUOUS THEREWITH, DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING TEETH ON SAID SECONDCONNECTING MEMBER SECTION, AND UPWARDLY OPEN RECESSES FORMED BETWEEN THEINDENTED POST WEB SECTIONS AND THE FLAT SECTIONS BETWEEN THEM, SAIDTEETH BEING INSERTABLE IN SAID RECESSES, THE SPACES BETWEEN SAID TEETHBEING GREATER THAN THE WIDTH OF THE FLAT WEB SECTIONS, WHEREBY SAIDTEETH MAY ENTER SAID RECESSES.